U.S. patent application number 16/479776 was filed with the patent office on 2020-11-05 for method for operating a motor vehicle having an operating device.
This patent application is currently assigned to AUDI AG. The applicant listed for this patent is AUDI AG. Invention is credited to Christian AL HADDAD, Stefan MAIWALD.
Application Number | 20200349936 16/479776 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005007816 |
Filed Date | 2020-11-05 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200349936 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
AL HADDAD; Christian ; et
al. |
November 5, 2020 |
METHOD FOR OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE HAVING AN OPERATING DEVICE
Abstract
The invention relates to a method for operating a motor vehicle
having an operating device, which includes a speech recognition and
language determination device. A recognition of a voice input of a
user of the motor vehicle, and a check as to whether a language of
the voice input corresponds to the first operating language take
place in a first operating mode with a first operating language.
Depending on a result of the checking process, a confidence value
is assigned to the voice input, which describes a probability with
which the language of the voice input is the second operating
language. Depending on the assigned confidence value, a query
signal is generated, which describes a request, understandable in a
second operating language, to the user for indicating the operating
mode to be set or the operating language to be set. In response to
a received operating signal, the operating mode to be set or the
operating language to be set are set.
Inventors: |
AL HADDAD; Christian;
(Ingolstadt, DE) ; MAIWALD; Stefan; (Ingolstadt,
DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
AUDI AG |
Ingolstadt |
|
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
AUDI AG
Ingolstadt
DE
|
Family ID: |
1000005007816 |
Appl. No.: |
16/479776 |
Filed: |
November 28, 2017 |
PCT Filed: |
November 28, 2017 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2017/080590 |
371 Date: |
July 22, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G10L 15/22 20130101;
G10L 13/00 20130101; G10L 2015/223 20130101; G10L 15/005
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G10L 15/22 20060101
G10L015/22; G10L 15/00 20060101 G10L015/00; G10L 13/00 20060101
G10L013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 23, 2017 |
DE |
10 2017 200 976.4 |
Claims
1.-7. (canceled)
8. A method for operating a motor vehicle, comprising: activating a
speech recognition and language determination device in an
operating device of the motor vehicle, wherein the operating device
is configured to be used in a first operating language in a first
operating mode and a second operating language in a second
operating mode; recognizing, by the speech recognition and language
determination device in the first operating mode, a voice input by
a user of the motor vehicle; checking, by the speech recognition
and language determination device, whether a language of the voice
input corresponds to the first operating language; assigning, by
the speech recognition and language determination device, a
confidence value to the voice input depending on a result of the
checking, wherein the confidence value describes a probability with
which the language of the voice input is the second operating
language; generating, by the speech recognition and language
determination device, a query signal describing a request in the
second operating language understandable to the user, wherein the
request indicates an operating mode to be set or an operating
language to be set, depending on the assigned confidence value;
transmitting, by the speech recognition and language determination
device, the query signal to an output device to output the query
signal; receiving, by the speech recognition and language
determination device, an operating signal, wherein the operating
signal describes an operational action of the user and indicates a
desired operating language; setting, by the speech recognition and
language determination device, the operating mode to be set or the
operating language to be set in response to the received operating
signal; and ascertaining, by the speech recognition and language
determination device, a percentage with which the speech
recognition and language determination device correctly recognizes
the voice input within a predefined period of time, wherein the
setting of the operating mode to be set or the operating language
to be set is carried out depending on the ascertained
percentage.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the request in the second
operating language understandable to the user comprises an audio
message or a text message in the second operating language, or an
image message.
10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: setting, by the
speech recognition and language determination device, the second
operating mode to detect the operational action.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: generating, by the
speech recognition and language determination device, a playback
signal, the playback signal describing a playback of the recognized
voice input; transmitting, by the speech recognition and language
determination device, the playback signal to the output device; and
determining, by the speech recognition and language determination
device, that the voice input has been correctly recognized in
response to a confirmation signal from the user, wherein the
confirmation signal describes that the playback of the recognized
voice input is correct.
12. An operating device of a motor vehicle, comprising: an
operating element configured to detect an operational action by a
user of the motor vehicle; a speech recognition and language
determination device; and an output device configured to output a
query signal, the query signal generated and transmitted by the
speech recognition and language determination device, wherein the
operating device is configured to be used in a first operating
language in a first operating mode and a second operating language
in a second operating mode.
13. The operating device of claim 12, wherein the speech
recognition and language determination device is configured to:
recognize a voice input by the user of the motor vehicle in the
first operating language; check whether a language of the voice
input corresponds to the first operating language; assign a
confidence value to the voice input, wherein the confidence value
describes a probability with which the language of the voice input
is the second operating language; generate the query signal
describing a request in the second operating language, wherein the
request indicates an operating mode to be set or an operating
language to be set depending on the assigned confidence value;
transmit the query signal to the output device; receive an
operating signal, the operating signal describing the operational
action of the user and indicating a desired operating language; and
set the operating mode to be set or the operating language to be
set in response to the received operating signal.
14. The operating device of claim 12, wherein the speech
recognition and language determination device comprises: at least
one microprocessor or at least one microcontroller; and a data
memory comprising a program code, wherein the program code is
configured to carry out operations when executed by the speech
recognition and language determination device.
15. The operating device of claim 14, wherein the speech
recognition and language determination device further comprises a
microphone, the microphone configured to record a voice input of
the user.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The disclosure relates to a method for operating a motor
vehicle having an operating device. The operating device is
configured in a first operating mode to be used in a first, preset
operating language, and in a second operating mode the operating
device is configured to be used in a second operating language.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In motor vehicles, the focus is increasingly placed on
comprehensive convenience electronics, by means of which
convenience systems, such as a navigation device, an auxiliary
heater, or air conditioning, may be electrically operated. In order
to enable a user of the motor vehicle to operate both the
convenience electronics and the actual drive of the motor vehicle,
a corresponding operating device, i.e., a device or a device
component, which serves as a user interface between the user and
the system to be operated, must be provided. Such an operating
device may be designed, for example, as a multimedia interface
("MIMI") or infotainment system, and may include, for example, a
touch-sensitive screen and/or push-button. The operating device may
be operated in different operating languages, i.e., multiple
languages may be stored, in which a text is output, for example,
for explaining a function of a menu item. In conventional operating
devices, for example, the user may select a corresponding operating
language in a language menu.
[0003] In order to distract the user as little as possible from a
driving process, the operating device may also output pieces of
information, for example, navigation instructions, via a speaker.
However, to change a voice output or speech recognition into a
desired or native language, the user must again navigate through a
written menu.
[0004] However, with the verbal language of the operating device, a
switch is also made to the written language, i.e., also the
language of the menus for the language switch. Thus, for example,
an Englishman may be offered the option "Select Language" in a menu
in German, but if he does not speak German, he is unable to
understand the menu. It is even more difficult if the font is
foreign, for example, Arabic characters for a German user or Latin
letters for an Arabic user. In addition, the switch via the font
menu requires time, is troublesome, and possibly the user only
determines during a trip that a language is set that he/she does
not understand. This results not only in user dissatisfaction but
also in an unnecessary distraction.
[0005] DE 601 09 979 T2 describes a navigation device having a
guidance language, which corresponds to a language used. A speech
recognition and language determination device examines a voice
input by a user, the language accordingly being determined as the
language used, based on each word contained in the voice input.
[0006] WO 2015/185464 A1 discloses an assistance system which is
controllable by means of voice input. A speech recognition and
language determination device assigns a meaning to voice inputs in
accordance with particular systems and rules.
[0007] However, in these methods, the user is unassisted in
choosing through an operating menu in order to set a preferred
language. Even if the operating device recognizes which language he
is currently speaking, he must select the language he wants by
navigating through the operating menu of the operating device.
[0008] One object underlying the disclosure is to assist the user
of the motor vehicle in quickly selecting or changing the operating
language.
[0009] The stated object is achieved by the method according to the
disclosure and by the devices according to the disclosure in
accordance with the subordinate patent claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of
the method according to the present disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of another embodiment
of the method according to the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The disclosure is based on the concept of being able to
confirm, after a determination of the language spoken by the user
in the particular language, i.e., in the language in which the user
has spoken, that he wishes to change the operating language of the
operating device to the language he has just spoken. This
eliminates the need to navigate through an operating menu to switch
the language. In addition, the user also has the option of
remaining in the original operating language.
[0013] The method according to the disclosure serves to operate a
motor vehicle having an operating device which, in a first
operating mode, is configured to be used in a first, preset
operating language and which, in a second operating mode, is
configured to be used in a second operating language. In other
words, a first operating language is specified in the first
operating mode, and in the second operating mode a second operating
language is specified, which may preferably differ from the first
operating language.
[0014] In the first operating mode, a speech recognition and
language determination device of the operating device detects or
recognizes a voice input from the user of the motor vehicle, and
determines that the user has said something. A speech recognition
and language determination device in this case is considered to be
a device component or a component of the operating device, which is
configured to detect and recognize a voice input by the user, i.e.,
to carry out speech recognition, and to determine in which language
the voice input was made. A voice input in this case is a verbal
utterance of the user, for example, a spoken word or a spoken word
sequence.
[0015] The activated speech recognition and language determination
device checks whether the language of the detected or recognized
voice input corresponds to the first operating language. Depending
on a result of the checking procedure, a confidence value is
assigned to the voice input, the confidence value describing a
probability with which the language of the voice input is the
second language. If, therefore, the speech recognition and language
determination device concludes that the language of the voice input
is not the first operating language, the voice input may be
assigned a confidence value which describes that there is a high
probability that the language of the voice input may, for example,
be the second operating language.
[0016] Depending on the assigned confidence value, the speech
recognition and language determination device generates a query
signal that describes a request understandable in the second
operating language to the user for indicating the operating mode to
be set and/or the operating language to be set. The query signal
may, for example, be an audio signal capable of describing a voice
output in the second operating language, in which the user is asked
if he wishes to use the operating device in the second operating
language. Alternatively, the query signal may, for example, be an
image signal capable of describing a corresponding text in the
second operating language or an image language, for example, an
image of a country flag corresponding to the second operating
language, followed by an image of a question mark.
[0017] The speech recognition and language determination device
transmits the query signal, for example, to an output device of the
motor vehicle, i.e., to a device or a device component for
outputting audio signals and/or image signals. The output device
may be designed, for example, as a screen and/or as a speaker.
[0018] This is followed by a reception of an operating signal by
the speech recognition and language determination device, the
operating signal describing an operational action of the user
detected by the operating device for indicating the operating
language to be set and/or the operating mode to be set. The
operational action may be detected, for example, by an operating
element, for example by a touch-sensitive screen, and may describe,
for example, that the user wishes to use the second operating
language.
[0019] A setting of the operating language to be set and/or the
operating mode to be set takes place in response to the received
operating signal. In other words, the desired operating language is
set in response to the received operating signal.
[0020] With the method according to the disclosure, a simple and
rapid switch of the operating language takes place. The operating
language may be switched despite the possibly unknown language used
in the first operating mode. Time is saved as a result of the
faster switch of the operating language, enabling the user to more
rapidly concentrate fully on the driving process again. By saving
time, for example, before the user is able to drive away, a longer
running of the engine, for example in a parking lot, is reduced and
electricity is thereby saved. Alternatively, if the user sets the
language when he is already driving, he may very quickly utilize
the operating device and, for example, is not initially driving for
minutes in the wrong direction, because he initially does not
understand the operating language of the navigation device.
Nonsensical dialogues may also be prevented or avoided, so that
such nonsensical dialogues, including, for example, confusing
and/or unwanted system concepts, are reduced.
[0021] The query signal, according to some embodiments of the
present disclosure, may be an audio signal and/or an image signal.
In other words, the request understandable in the second operating
language may be an audio message and/or text message in the second
operating language and/or an image message. In the image message
option, in particular, the query for the confirmation of the
setting of the second operating language is expressed in a
generally understandable manner. If the user understands the second
operating language and the query signal describes an audio message
and/or text message, then he/she is addressed directly in his/her
desired language.
[0022] In order for the user to be able to carry out the
confirmation or specification of the operating mode to be set
and/or the desired operating language to be set even more quickly,
and to not have to glance away from the driving process, it may be
provided according to one preferred embodiment that the speech
recognition and language determination device sets the second
operating mode for detecting the operational action. Thus, for
example, if the operating device expects, based on the confidence
value, that the user wishes to have set the second operating mode
and/or the second operating language, the user is thus enabled to
respond to the request for the acknowledgment signal with a voice
input.
[0023] According to another embodiment, it may be provided that the
speech recognition and language determination device may be used to
generate a playback signal capable of describing a playback of the
recognized voice input. The playback signal may then be transmitted
from the speech recognition and language determination device to
the output device. The words spoken by the user may thus, for
example, be audibly output once again by the operating device or
displayed, for example, on a screen. In response to a confirmation
signal capable of describing the correct playback of the recognized
voice input, it is determined that the voice input has been
recognized correctly. The confirmation signal in this case may be
generated, for example, in response to a further operational action
of the user. In this way, a maloperation or faulty speech
recognition may be prevented or the number of maloperations may be
significantly reduced.
[0024] If the speech recognition and language determination device
ascertains a percentage with which the speech recognition and
language determination device correctly recognizes a voice input
within a predetermined period of time, the operation steps of the
method according to some embodiments which relate to the speech
recognition and language determination device may be carried out
depending on the ascertained percentage. For this purpose, the
speech recognition and language determination device may count, for
example, how often the user confirms the playback signal, i.e.,
confirms that the voice input was correctly understood. In this
way, the operating device is able to "learn" whether the user
understands the particular operating language well and the method
according to the disclosure may then be carried out, for example,
even if there are no results or few results, as to whether the user
understands the first operating language and/or the second
operating language.
[0025] The above stated object is also achieved by an operating
device according to the disclosure. The operating device includes a
speech recognition and language determination device, which is
configured to carry out the operation steps relating to the speech
recognition and language determination device in accordance with an
embodiment of the disclosure. For this purpose, the speech
recognition and language determination device may include at least
one microprocessor and/or at least one microcontroller.
Furthermore, the speech recognition and language determination
device may include a program code, which is configured to carry out
the embodiment of the method according to the disclosure when
executed by the speech recognition and language determination
device. The program code may be stored in a data memory of the
speech recognition and language determination device.
[0026] The above stated object is also achieved by a motor vehicle
according to the disclosure, which may be designed, for example, a
passenger car. In some embodiments, the motor vehicle is
characterized by the operating device. The aforementioned
advantages result here as well.
[0027] The disclosure also includes refinements of the method,
which include features previously described in connection with the
refinements of the motor vehicle. For this reason, the
corresponding refinements of the method according to the disclosure
are not again described herein.
[0028] Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are described below
in the drawings of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
[0029] The exemplary embodiments explained below are preferred
embodiments of the disclosure. In the exemplary embodiments, the
described components of the embodiments each constitute individual
features of the disclosure to be viewed independently from one
another which also, each independently of one another, refine the
disclosure, and are therefore to be considered also individually or
in a different combination from that shown, as part of the
disclosure. Other features of the disclosure previously described
may also be added to the embodiments described.
[0030] In the drawings, functionally equivalent elements are
provided with the same reference numerals.
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates the principle of the method according to
the disclosure by way of example with reference to a first
exemplary embodiment.
[0032] For this purpose, FIG. 1 schematically shows a motor vehicle
10, which may, for example, be designed as a passenger car. The
motor vehicle 10 includes an operating device 12, for example, an
infotainment system of the motor vehicle 10 or a multimedia
interface. The operating device 12 may, for example, include an
operating element 13, which may be fitted, for example, as a
pushbutton or swivel point. Alternatively, the operating element 13
may also be designed as a touch-sensitive screen. The operating
device 12 of FIG. 1 also shows a speech recognition and language
determination device 14, which may include, for example, a
microprocessor 11 and/or a microcontroller. The speech recognition
and language determination device may be designed, for example, as
a control board, and may optionally include a data memory 15. The
data memory 15 may be designed, for example, as a control chip.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary architecture of the speech recognition
and language determination device 14. In one alternative
architecture, the data memory 15 may be part of the microprocessor
11, for example. A program code, which is configured to carry out
an embodiment of the method according to the disclosure when
executed by the speech recognition and language determination
device, may be stored in the data memory.
[0033] The speech recognition and language determination device 14
also includes a microphone 16 which, as familiar to those skilled
in the art, may be configured as a microphone for recording a voice
input of a user of the motor vehicle 10.
[0034] The individual components of the speech recognition and
language determination device 14 may be interconnected via a
suitable data communication link, which links are depicted in FIG.
1 (and in FIG. 2) as black connecting lines. However, additional
and/or alternative data communication links are possible, which are
not shown in the relevant figure. With the exemplary program code,
it is possible to operate the speech recognition and language
determination device in at least two operating modes. The operating
modes in this case are distinguished by a corresponding operating
language.
[0035] The operating device 12 also includes an output device 18,
which may be designed, for example, as a screen and/or speaker. If
the output device 18 is a touch-sensitive screen, then the
operating element 13 may be integrated into the output device 18.
The output device 18 preferably includes both a screen 20 and a
speaker 22.
[0036] For example, the motor vehicle 10 may be a rental car that
is rented by a user. The user may, for example, be a tourist from
Germany who rents the motor vehicle 10 in an Arab country. In a
basic setting, a first operating mode may be set, in which the
operating language may be Arabic, for example.
[0037] The operating device 12 may, for example, be configured to
operate a navigation system and/or multiple convenience systems of
the motor vehicle 10 in response to the operational action of the
user. Upon detection of a voice input, the exemplary microphone may
generate an operating signal capable of describing the voice input,
and the operating signal may be transmitted to the microprocessor
11, for example. The microprocessor may recognize the detected
voice input as such upon receipt of the operating signal, for
example, at operation step S1.
[0038] In the example of FIG. 1, when a power supply of the motor
vehicle 10 is activated, a welcome text or a question as to where
the user wishes to have the motor vehicle 10 navigated, may be
output by the speaker 22. Since in the example of FIG. 1 the first
operating mode is set, such a display or voice output may be in
Arabic.
[0039] In the example, the user may not be sufficiently fluent in
the Arabic language to understand the welcome text or the question.
However, due to the language barrier, the user is unable to give a
corresponding Arabic operating command or navigate through an
operating menu to manually set the operating language.
[0040] As a voice input, he may therefore simply say any sentence,
or any word in, for example, his native language. This voice input
is recognized by the speech recognition and language determination
device 14 (S1).
[0041] For this purpose, the user may, for example, speak a
predefined, standardized sentence. The mechanism for checking
whether the language of the voice input corresponds to the first
operating language (S2), for example, may be actively activated by
the user before entering the voice input by operating the operating
element 13. Alternatively, however, it may be provided that the
method according to the disclosure may be routinely run through, or
it may depend on whether the user has already entered successful
voice inputs. In the example of FIG. 1, however, this may not be
the case since the user, for example, is using this motor vehicle
10 for the first time.
[0042] In some embodiments, for the checking process S2 a threshold
value may be predefined in the data memory 15, which may indicate,
for example, what minimum percentage of the voice input should be
in the first operating language so that the first operating
language is considered to be recognized. This can be helpful, for
example, if the user speaks the first operating language but uses
foreign words when speaking the operating language.
[0043] In the example of FIG. 1, the speech recognition and
language determination device 14 recognizes, for example, that the
user has not entered the voice input in Arabic. Depending on the
result of this checking process S2, speech recognition and language
determination device 14 may assign or allocate a confidence value
to the voice input at operation step S3, it being possible for the
confidence value to indicate, for example, that the voice input is
with a probability of 90% the second operating language.
[0044] Optionally, it may be provided at this point that the speech
recognition and language determination device 14 may generate, for
example, a playback signal capable of describing the recognized
sentence that the user spoke as voice input (S4), and this playback
signal may, for example, be transmitted by the output device 18
(S5). The output device 18 may, for example, output this playback
signal via the screen 20 (S6), or for example via the speaker 22.
This allows the user account to check whether the voice input was
recognized correctly. The user may confirm a correct recognition,
for example, by means of an additional voice input in the second
operating language or by actuating the operating element 13. On the
basis of such a detected operational action, the operating element
13 or another component of the operating device 12 may, for
example, generate an acknowledgment signal capable of describing
the correct playback of the recognized voice input. In response to
such a confirmation signal, the speech recognition and language
determination devices may determine that voice input has been
recognized correctly (S7).
[0045] Depending on the assigned confidence value, the speech
recognition and language determination device may generate a query
signal capable of describing a request understandable in the second
operating language to the user for indicating the operating mode
and/or the desired operating language, for example, in German
"Would you like to set German as the operating language?", or an
image sequence, for example the German national flag followed by a
question mark (S8). The query signal may then be transmitted to the
output device 18 (S5), and the latter may output the request signal
(S6).
[0046] The user of FIG. 1 may, for example, so desire, and enter a
corresponding voice input, or, alternatively, confirm it via the
operating element 13. The operating signal received at operation
step S9 may describe the desired operating language and/or
confirmation, and set the second operating mode in response to the
received operating signal to the speech recognition and language
determination device (S10).
[0047] For example, if the user is a German tourist from whom the
speech recognition and language determination device 14 has
received a voice input, such as a sentence that the tourist has
just addressed to a passenger in his native language, but the user
also speaks Arabic and, in order to practice his Arabic skills
while on vacation, wishes to continue to use the operating device
12 in the first operating language while using the motor vehicle
10, he may then express this via a corresponding operational action
and the operating device 12 may continue to operate in the first
operating mode.
[0048] Depending on the confidence value, it may optionally be
provided that the second operating mode may already be set for
detecting the operational action (S10). In this way, the speech
recognition and language determination device is able to recognize
a corresponding voice input by the user in his desired language
(S1).
[0049] In some embodiments, the user may already have driven away
with the motor vehicle 10. The fact that he does not have to focus
his attention, for example, on an operating menu for setting the
operating language and does not have to look at the screen 20,
results in a valuable time savings for him, so that when needing to
use the navigation system, he has this immediately available. Thus,
he is not forced, for example, to remain idle in the parking lot
for a while in order to set the operating language. If the motor
vehicle 10 is an electric motor vehicle, this results in a power
saving for him, because he does not remain idle for minutes with
the engine running before driving away.
[0050] In some embodiments, during operation of the motor vehicle
10, each user's voice input may be displayed once again, for
example, by a corresponding playback signal, as already described
above (S6). In some embodiments, to operate the exemplary
navigation system or the air conditioner, a confirmation of the
user may be required in each case, and the respective confirmation
signals capable of describing the correct recognition of the voice
input (S1), may, for example, be counted (S11) by the speech
recognition and language determination device 14. In this way, a
percentage may be ascertained (S12) for the voice inputs that have
been recognized correctly by the speech recognition and language
determination device 14.
[0051] Alternatively, if the user used the operating device 12 in
the first operating language, and if, for example, his
pronunciation is not yet good enough, the speech recognition and
language determination device 14 may determine or ascertain that
only up to 80% of his voice inputs were correctly recognized (S1).
In the speech recognition and language determination device 14, a
threshold value may then be stored, capable of describing that the
operation steps of the method according to the disclosure are
carried out at a percentage of, for example, less than 90% of the
recognized voice inputs. In some embodiments, after a predefined
number of incorrectly recognized voice inputs, it is possible to
check again (S4) and/or to query whether the user does not wish to
switch into another operating language. Such a threshold value may
be raised, for example, if the ascertained percentage changes
during the course of a journey.
[0052] FIG. 2 shows another exemplary embodiment of the method
according to the disclosure with only differences with respect to
the example of FIG. 1 being discussed below. The operating device
12 in this case may display, for example, by means of the output
device 18, an image 26 of a set navigation program, as well as an
optional text field 28 on which, for example, a piece of
information about a navigation destination may be displayed. In
FIG. 2, this piece of information may be indicated, for example, in
Arabic characters, which the user 24 is unable to read and
therefore does not know what the text message wishes to communicate
to him (S13). At operation step S14, for example, he can say an
arbitrary sentence, for example, "Please drive to Berlin" (S14).
The voice input in this case is shown as a speech bubble. Thus, in
FIG. 2, the user 24 may, for example, rent the motor vehicle 10 in
Germany, a previous driver of the motor vehicle 10, for example,
having set an operating mode in which the operating language is
Arabic.
[0053] With the method according to the disclosure, for example, as
described above with reference to FIG. 1, it is possible for the
speech recognition and language determination device 14 to set an
operating mode (S10) in which German is the operating language. For
better clarity, the individual process steps in this case are not
listed again in FIG. 2. At operation step S15 it is shown that the
user 24 now understands the set operating language and is able to
use the operating device 12.
[0054] On the whole, the exemplary embodiments show how the
disclosure makes it possible to change a language by recognizing
the driver's language.
[0055] According to another embodiment, a program code may be
implemented in the motor vehicle 10, wherein the program code can
be, for example, an algorithm, with which the language of the user
24 may be recognized. If the language of the user 24 does not
correspond to the set operating language, it may be asked, for
example by outputting the above-described query signal in the
second operating language, whether to switch to the recognized
language (for example by displaying a corresponding text with the
query "Would you like to switch to German?"). The voice input to be
recognized in this case is, for example, a sentence having a
minimum, predefined number of words and/or a minimum speaking
duration or time of the voice input.
[0056] The exemplary algorithm may, for example, be activated only
when needed, so that normally there are no disadvantages or
calculation times.
[0057] The algorithm may be started as soon as the recognition of
the voice input (S1) in the set operating language is very poor and
only very low detection probabilities are calculated, i.e., a low
confidence value is assigned (S3). A threshold of probability may
be raised in the course of a journey in which voice inputs have
already been successfully carried out. If, for example, the user 24
has already successfully entered inputs in the set operating
language, then it can be assumed, for example, that the user 24
masters the set operating language and can switch directly to, for
example, "switch language to Arabic" as the voice input.
[0058] According to another embodiment, the spoken input may be
buffered. If the user 24 says, for example, in the Arabic operating
mode: "Please navigate to Munich", the following sequence may be
carried out, for example, recognition of an Arabic sentence may
fail (S1); the exemplary speech recognition algorithm may be
started; the algorithm may recognize German as a high probability;
a query signal of the question "Would you like to switch to
German?" may be output (S6); with the aid of a "yes" response, it
is possible to switch to the German operating language. In the case
of a "no" response, an operating menu may, for example, display the
following menu items or functions (S6): 1--change to German,
2--English (in English if, for example, English has the closest
probability), 3--maintain Arabic (for example, in Arabic font). In
the language now selected, the previous saved sentence "Please
navigate to Munich" may be evaluated.
[0059] This advantageously results in a simple switch of the
language. A switch of the operating language may take place even if
the language is unknown. A more rapid switch of the operating
language takes place, and time is saved, which may be relevant, in
particular, for electric motor vehicles 10. The problem of a user
24 having to cope and drive with an unknown operating language is
reduced or completely avoided. Thus, nonsensical dialogues
potentially resulting in confusing and unwanted system concepts may
be reduced or avoided, for example, when the user 24 says "Navigate
to Amberg", which could be confused, for example, with "the radio
is changed to AM".
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